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Tempeh Mushroom Soup (vegan mageiritsa) and Maternity Leave

Yes, I know the title is confusing, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise any more, if you have been following this blog for a while now. So, the first part of this post is about a delicious recipe that we cooked a bit after Easter and the second part is pregnancy-related. This means you can only read half of it, get the delicious recipe and spare yourself the preggo talk, if you feel like it (I am considerate like that).

Vegan Mageiritsa

Vegan Mageiritsa

In Greece we have a traditional Easter dish, called “Mageiritsa”. It is definitely NOT vegetarian or vegan-friendly, as it’s star ingredients are liver and intestine pieces of the lamb, that is being consumed Easter Sunday. I never liked mageiritsa as a kid, because I never liked the taste of liver, so it was quite common for my mom to substitute liver with mushrooms. Then, I grew up and I learned to appreciate the texture of liver. But then I became vegetarian. So back to mushrooms…

Ingredients for about 4 big portions

-2 heads of lettuce or a mix of lettuce and endive (that’s what we used, ’cause lettuce is apparently somewhat exotic here)

-1 big onion

-6 tablespoons olive oil

-2 cups chopped-up mushrooms. You can use whatever you like. We used button mushrooms.

-1,5 ltr vegetable stock

-a bunch of scallions, parsley and other fresh herbs of your choice

-1 regular package of tempeh. You will grate it and should end up with about 2 cups of tempeh.

-3 lemons

-2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

-Salt and pepper to taste

Tempeh gets a great texture when boiled, which I never expected.

Instructions

In a big non-stick pot heat the olive oil.

Add in the onion, chopped up, and stir constantly over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

Lower the heat, add in the mushrooms and keep stirring for another 3-4 minutes.

Add in the pot the greens (lettuce, endives, scallions, parsley and whatever else you fancy) and the vegetable stock.

Simmer covered for about 10 minutes.

Add in the juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper and check if you need to add a bit of water.

Add in the tempeh as well and simmer for another 10 minutes, or until the greens and mushrooms are tender enough for your taste.

Turn of the heat and keep the pot covered.

In a jar mix the flour with the juice of the other 2 lemons. Shake well (or beat with a fork) to make sure there are no flour lumps left.

Pour the flour-lemon juice into the pot and stir. Simmer for a couple more minutes or until the soup thickens.

Enjoy!

Maternity Leave

You guys, I am getting huge. There are officially only 30 days left till our due date and I have to say that even though I have been extremely lucky and had a very easy pregnancy so far, constant fatigue has become my new reality. Therefore, I am starting my maternity leave, meaning less posts and no new writing projects for a while (I have no clue how long this “while” is going to be, being a first time mom and all). I have two interviews that I want to post before the little one joins our family and one more post regarding creativity, but I will make no specific promises regarding when those will be published.